"And when they ask us what we're doing, you can say, We're remembering...." (Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451)

Monday, May 28, 2007

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES....

In honor of Memorial Day, the PGP Classic Soap Blog takes a look back at some of our favorite Oakdale and Springfield citizens who've faced memory... challenges... over the years:

1) GL's Beth (Beth Chamberlin) was presumed dead in 1986 (a boat, a shifty-eyed professor and, as always, Alan, was involved). True love Phillip (Grant Aleksander) grieved. Three years later, Beth returned. Alas, suffering from amnesia and mute, to boot. Phillip's then-wife, Blake, stumbled upon her husband's ex-fiancee. Realizing that the minute Phillip set eyes on his soul-mate, Blake would be, well, a mere memory, she kept the discovery to herself. It didn't do her much good. Phillip saw, Beth remembered, and Blake was out. That's how it goes.

2) It was summer of 2004, and ATWT's Jack (Michael Park) was feeling pretty darn good about his life. He and Carly (Maura West) had remarried the previous year and were raising their daughter, Sage, along with Carly's oh-so-cute son, Parker. Yup, life was going great. Which, if either Jack or Carly were Jewish, they'd know meant something horrible was about to happen. And, right on schedule, it did. Policeman Jack was transporting a criminal across a bridge when the thug attempted to escape by grabbing the wheel. Both men ended up in the churning water. Jack was presumed dead. He woke up in a strange hospital with amnesia and, before regaining his memory, picked up a new wife, Julia (Sarah Brown), and an equally cute stepson named JJ. Even after remembering his life in Oakdale, Jack still cared for Julia and, for a while, vacillated between the two women. But, in the end, his going back to Carly was inevitable. Other women may be capable of making him happy, but Carly is the only one who can make him truly, heart-churning miserable. And if that isn't love, what is?

3) After driving off a pier in 1990, GL's Reva (Kim Zimmer) first returned to Springfield in the form of a ghost only her widower, Josh, and his fiancee, Annie, could see. Her corporeal self made its presence felt when, while living in Indiana as an amnesiac Amish woman, Reva ran down Alan (Ron Raines) with her buggy. Reva returned to Springfield and tried to stay away from Josh. Reva failed.

4) ATWT's Holden (Jon Hensley) went to New York City in 1993 and lost his mind. Literally. A mugging injured his brain, requiring surgery to remove the damaged part. It was, apparently, the Lily (Martha Byrne) part. Holden forgot the girl he'd gone through so much to wed, and they divorced. However, since anyone with even half a brain could see that they belonged together, the couple eventually found their way back to each other.